Innocence
by Kaze no Ato
Summary: Post Phantom Lord Arc. Lucy muses about her life so far and how being in Fairy Tail might just be the best thing that's ever happened to her, despite recent events. Lucy-centric. NaLu if you squint. Natsu being Natsu. Gray strips at the end, because that's his thing.


A/N: This idea popped into my head when I was listening to Avril Lavigne's song "Innocence." Absolutely my favorite song of hers in the history of EVER. If you haven't heard it, I recommend it highly! I only recently got into (and addicted to) Fairy Tail. As in, a month ago I hadn't watched an episode and now I'm caught up to episode 236 on Hulu. Set just after the Phantom Lord arc, so spoilers (?) if you haven't seen/read it. Cross posted to AO3 and here. :3

 _ **Innocence**_

Truth be told? Life had been a bit too much for me lately. I mean, there's only so much that a girl can take before she loses it. I'm talking total emotional breakdown, the sobbing and snotting everywhere kind of breakdown. I reached that point, recently. I've cried a lot in my short life. This was almost as bad as when my mom died when I was a little girl. Or when my dad completely dismissed me on my birthday. Or when he started treating me as a possession rather than a human being. You see, there's been so much stupid drama recently. I'm talking about all-out attacks on my guild; I was kidnapped on my own father's orders, and even getting the snot kicked out of me because of my stubborn refusal to play the obedient daughter. Watching my friends stand up for me, even though it was my fault (well, my FATHER'S fault really) everything happened in the first place. Going back to the estate where I grew up (definitely NOT the place I considered home) and confronting my father and probably royally irking the crap out of him in the process. It felt good.

Anyway, sorry! I guess I shouldn't rant like that without even telling you who I am, right? Well, let me introduce myself. I'm "lucky" Lucy Heartfilia, age seventeen, daughter of Jude and Layla Heartfilia, runaway heir to the Heartfilia Konzern. More importantly, I'm a Fairy Tail wizard. Yup, I said wizard. Celestial wizard, to be exact! Just like my mom was. I wasn't kidding when I said those things earlier. I really had been through the ringer, and so had my guild mates. Our guildhall had been completely destroyed by another guild called Phantom Lord, whose guild master had it in for us for some reason or another. It's no wonder that I broke down, right? Right. Strangely enough, things weren't so bad after all.

.FT. .FT.

Lucy trudged up the stairs to her apartment and shut the door quietly behind her. She leaned against it and sighed for the hundredth time that day. She ached all over from her efforts in helping rebuild the guildhall. She wasn't super strong like Erza or Natsu or even Gray, nor could she make herself huge like Master Makarov. She was plain old Lucy. The blonde had as much as she could physically, and also helped in the floor plan design. She dragged her feet as she made her way to her bathroom, fully intending to get a good soak in before she went to bed. Lucy kicked her shoes off by her bed, toed her socks next to them and continued stripping down in the bathroom. Having drawn her bath and submerged herself in the steaming water Lucy mused once again over recent events. How could so much happen to her in the short amount of time she had been with Fairy Tail? Even the events leading up to her joining Fairy Tail had been done in a whirlwind fashion. She smiled, remembering how she had met Natsu and Happy. The fake Salamander, the almost kidnapping at the hands of said fake Salamander, the subsequent rescue by the REAL Salamander and his flying, blue cat. Lucy gazed at the pink guild mark on her right hand and her smile grew larger. That such a little thing could have brought so much happiness in such a short amount of time was astounding. The feeling of belonging and being allowed to finally be just Lucy far outweighed the heartache that had happened. She sighed once more, though this time it was from contentment instead of exhaustion.

Lucy didn't know how long she had stayed in the bath, though if the shiver she felt and the cold temperature of the water indicated anything, it had been a while. She toweled herself dry before she wrapped it around her body, secured it snuggly and tucked the end of the towel in front. She hummed softly as she ran a comb through her golden lock. It amazed her how therapeutic a good, long soak could be to the body and mind. The tiredness of her earlier work now faded into a comfortable lazy feeling. Lucy swiped a hand across the fogged mirror before her, revealing her smiling face. She winked at her reflection once before leaving the bathroom altogether. It wasn't until she noticed two figures sitting on her floor that she yelped; a hand

going to her chest to make sure the towel was firmly in place.

"NATSU! WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING IN MY LIVINGROOM?!" the blonde yelled at the top of her lungs, not caring if her neighbors or landlady heard her or not.

The pink-haired young man looked sheepish for a brief, very brief moment before he settled into that face-splitting grin that he was oh-so-famous for. Happy hid behind Natsu in an attempt to put something between himself and Lucy's wrath. If she hadn't been in nothing but a towel, she'd have Lucy-kicked them both out of her room. As it were, she had to resort to just screeching at them.

"Geez, Luce!" Natsu rubbed his ears, "We were just worried about you. You seemed down when you left, so Happy and I decided to come check on you. Right, Happy?"

"Aye sir!" Happy answered, peeking out from behind the Dragon Slayer. "Lucy looked sad."

Despite standing in front of her best friend in nothing but a towel, and having just freaked out a moment ago, she was touched. Natsu had no sense of personal space (thank goodness he had some inkling about privacy) but he was only looking out for her, and that was kind of sweet. In a "you really should have used the door and not my window" sort of way, but still sweet. Lucy gave the two a fond smile and a shake of her head, then grabbed her pajamas and headed back to the bathroom to dress. She quickly changed into her bed clothes and returned to where her partners were waiting.

"Are you better now, Lucy?" Happy asked, tilting his head cutely with an innocent look.

"Yeah, I am."

"So… you won't yell at us again?" Natsu ventured tentatively.

"Not unless you do something stupid again," The Celestial mage eyed him, "Which is a real possibility."

Natsu pouted childishly at her words. He hadn't thought he had done anything wrong in the first place. Sure, he had come in through her window but she still left it unlocked, even wide open at times, so that must mean she really didn't mind it. Besides, he didn't have a key to get in the front door and he seriously doubted she wanted him to bust down the door every time he wanted in. Lucy watched his expressive face as he was going through those thoughts and giggled softly. In the silence someone's stomach growled. Lucy didn't know if hers had betrayed her, or if it had just been Natsu's black hole of a stomach that had done it. She rolled her eyes.

"How about I make something to eat? It won't be fanc—"

"FISH!" Happy interjected.

"You ate the last of my fish that last time you were here, cat." Lucy's eyebrow twitched, "So no."

"Party pooper." The blue feline muttered as Lucy walked toward the refrigerator.

"What was that?" She hissed without turning around.

"N-n-nothing Lucy!"

Natsu snickered at Happy's misfortune, glad that Lucy wasn't angry at him. He crawled onto her bed, stretching out completely as she made them all something to eat. Her comforter was nice and soft, and he thought briefly of falling asleep. He decided against it when he got a whiff of whatever it was that Lucy was cooking. It smelled too good to miss, and he could sleep afterward. Natsu watched his friend as she seemed to add different spices randomly to whatever was in the pan. He sniffed the air again, his eyes still following the blonde as she hummed and cooked. Hm. Beef, definitely. Cream, onions, the earthy scent of mushrooms was present. Noodles? His last suspicion was confirmed when she dumped the contents of a pot into a strainer before she added that to the pan with the beef. Whatever it was, it smelled good. Natsu almost missed the evil giggle from Happy.

"Natsu liiiiiikes Lucy."

"Cut that crap, Happy!" Natsu's fist connected with the top of Happy's head.

"Waaaaah! That hurt, Natsu!" Happy cried, causing Lucy to look over her shoulder with a frown.

That was when she noticed Natsu's position on her bed and glared at him. "Off! Dinner's almost ready."

"Aye!" The pink-haired wizard shouted, hopped off the bed and positioned himself at the table.

Lucy portioned some of the noodle dish for Happy and herself in smaller bowls, before setting a large bowl in front of Natsu and a plate of toasted bread in the center of the table. She plopped herself ungracefully down, a piece of toast dangling from her mouth as she repositioned herself more comfortably. "Sorry it isn't all that fancy, but it was the best I could do with what was in the refrigerator."

"Donf 'polgize, Wushy. Ish goo'." Natsu commented around a mouthful of food. His table manners were truly atrocious.

"I'm going to assume you said something complimentary." She said dryly, to which he nodded enthusiastically.

"It's not fish, but it's still good." Happy chirped.

"…Thanks."

.FT. .FT.

After dinner was finished and dishes done, Natsu found himself lying on Lucy's floor staring at the ceiling with her pillow under his head. Happy had curled up on his chest some time ago and had fallen asleep. Sleep sounded like an amazing idea, now that he thought about it. Would Lucy let him stay, though? He tilted his head back further when he heard the bathroom door open; the sound of Lucy's humming proceeded her out of the bathroom. He wondered absently what it was that she was humming. It sounded like a lullaby. Her eyes found his, and he saw exasperation in their chocolate depths.

"That's MY pillow, Natsu." She mused as she padded her way across the wooden floor toward her bed.

"Can we stay the night?" The Dragon Slayer blurted out, not bothering to acknowledge her comment.

"Wait—What?" She did a double-take, "Stay. As in, here. At my apartment."

"Yep." He grinned, his canines catching a glint from the light.

"Why?"

"Dunno. It's late. I'm tired. Happy's sleeping." He shrugged awkwardly from the floor, "Lotsa reasons."

She stared at him blankly. How could this boy just up and ask to spend the night at her place without batting an eyelash was completely beyond her comprehension. If her father knew some guy wanted to spend the night with her, he'd have a cow. And puppies. Maybe a few kittens too. The fact that he had asked in complete innocence and out of sheer laziness wouldn't have mattered to him. For some reason, the idea that Natsu staying the night would irritate her father caused her to grin. Lucy Heartfilia was in a type of devil-may-care mood that made her agree.

"Yessss!" He elongated the 's' like a serpent hissing. "You're the best, Luce."

"Shh. You'll wake up Happy." She shushed.

"Right, sorry." Natsu stage whispered, which wasn't much better.

Natsu was snoring softly by the time she returned from rummaging in her closet for a spare blanket that she never used. She sniffed it, finding it to be less musty smelling than she had imagined it would be. Lucy draped it over her best friend's body, careful not to smother Happy with it. She eyed her pillow longingly, but was quick to give up the idea of taking it from him when he was already asleep. She whispered a soft goodnight to her sleeping companions before turning off the light and wiggled her way under the covers.

.FT. .FT.

When Lucy awoke the next morning, the first thing she noticed was that she was far hotter than she should be. Her apartment had never kept in the heat well, so it tended to get colder at night. The second that she noticed, after opening her eyes, was a mass of crazy pink hair. Screaming in someone's ear was probably not the kindest wake up, but she figured the situation demanded it. Natsu woke sputtering curses and looking wild-eyed around the room for the source of whatever had caused Lucy to scream bloody murder. It clicked after a quick survey of the small apartment that he was, in fact, what had caused her to scream and that sometime in the middle of the night he had decided her bed would be far comfier than the floor. Which it was, to be completely honest. He groaned and scrambled his way over her to get off the bed. She squeaked when he did so, wondering how the heck he had managed to climb into her bed in a half-asleep state more gracefully than he had gotten out. A tense silence filled the air as the blonde glared at Natsu. It was shattered when a not-so-sleepy sounding Happy stage whispered "you liiiiiiike each other."

"GET! OUT!"

"But Luce—"

"NOW!" She roared, shoulders heaving.

Natsu grabbed Happy by the tail, scrambled back over Lucy since she hadn't left the bed, and leapt from her window to the ground below. Stupid boy. She never should have agreed to let him stay knowing how little he valued personal space. How did he not get that it wasn't okay for a boy to randomly sneak into a girl's bed? Ugh. Lucy glanced at the clock on her nightstand and saw red numbers that read 5:47am. Double ugh, too early. She reached down and grabbed her pillow from the floor, buried her face in it and fell back asleep. It wasn't until 8am when Lucy finally showed up to help with repairs to Fairy Tail, which were going quickly with all the wizards working on it. She was greeted by many of her guild mates and went to work immediately. The blonde prayed that Natsu wouldn't bug her for a while. She was still irritated about waking up to a sleeping Natsu in her bed to deal with him right now. As she worked, Lucy watched her friends. The sight of so many Fairy Tail marks displayed, working together to rebuild their guildhall warmed her heart and the irritation from earlier eventually melted away. Mirajane strolled up to her, offering a glass of lemonade to her as she did so.

"Thanks a million, Mira." Lucy gulped down the tart drink, "That's amazing."

"Aw, thanks." Mira smiled happily, "I noticed you weren't in a good mood earlier. I don't want to pry, but are you okay?"

"Yeah," The Celestial mage sighed, "I let Natsu spend the night and he—"

"Whoa, whoa!" Gray cut into their conversation, "You let flame brain do what now?"

"Shush, Gray!" The white-haired woman's eyebrow twitched, "Go back to what you were doing."

"No way, Mira." Gray pointed a finger at Lucy, "What the hell."

Lucy's face turned beat red as more and more Fairy Tail members turned their eyes toward her. Mira was someone she could tell, not the whole guild! Although, now that she looked at the scheming glint in Mirajane's eyes, Lucy felt herself regretting saying anything. It didn't help that Natsu decided that that was the perfect moment to drape an arm around her shoulders with a grin. The look she sent him almost made him cower back.

"Still mad about this morning?" Natsu grunted, "I said I was sorry."

"Excuse me? No, you didn't." She shoved his arm off his shoulders, earning a pout from her partner. "You did no such thing."

Natsu scratched his head, "Huh. Totally thought I did. Oh well."

"Oh well?" Lucy placed her hands on her hips, completely forgetting the rest of the guild was watching them. "Climbing into a girl's bed in the middle of the night and not apologizing does not just get resolved with an 'oh well,' Natsu."

"You did what?" Erza's strong voice called out. "What were you thinking?"

"He wasn't, obviously." Gray retorted, "Dumbass."

"Woo! Go Natsu! Didn't think you had it in you!" Cana called drunkenly, "Putting the moved on Lucy, that's gotta take some guts."

"That's pretty manly." Elfman tossed in his two jewels.

"That's it!" Natsu's hand engulfed in flames, "Fight me, all of you!"

Lucy watched in horror as a brawl broke out in front of her, all the while Mirajane just laughed beside her. This was crazy, and yet she wouldn't have it any other way. She laughed along with Mira as they listened to the insults thrown between Gray and Natsu. Watched a t-shirt fly from the brawl, knowing it was more than likely to be Gray's. Erza had Requiped at some point into her Flame Empress armor, laughing at Natsu's attempts to toss flames her direction. Elfman cried aloud about how manly that was of her. Another article of clothing, a pair of pants this time, flew from the brawl. Natsu yelled about Gray being a pervert, Gray retorted about how he at least didn't have ash for brains. Slowly the rest of the crowd removed themselves from the fight, until only Erza remained with the two throwing insults at each other.

"Ahem. I do believe that we need to get back to work, you two." She said calmly.

"Shut your pie hole, ice lips!"

"Not until you shut your, fire breath!"

"Boys." Erza called, more irritated than before. "Work. Now."

"Oh yeah? Make me, frosty."

"You're on, pyro!"

That was as far as they had gotten before Ersa knocked their heads together. "Listen up. No more fighting. It's time to get back to rebuilding, understood?"

"Yes ma'am!" the boys cried in unison, hugging one another for dear life.

It certainly was a crazy group of people that Lucy had gotten herself attached to. One moment they were perfectly fine, the next they were at each other's throats. They were a dysfunctional family, but in a good way. Not like she was with her father. No, this was family at its best. They were friends that would stick with together through thick and thin. In the good times and bad. They would laugh together, cry together and give one another strength to do the impossible. All in all, Lucy felt truly blessed to be a part of Fairy Tail. It was a dream come true, one that was only possible thanks to that ridiculous pink-haired salamander.

"So, Natsu slept in bed with you huh?" Mirajane inquired when everything had calmed down and everyone was back to work.

"MIRA!"


End file.
